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jfcbooks's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.75
babsaway14's review against another edition
2.0
This was a LOT of tennis. I think the author did a good job narrating the match and demonstrating that tennis is indeed a psychological sport. That said, I could have learned that in 30 pages, not 150. I did like reading about the background of Big Bill Tilden, Don Budge and Gottfried von Cramm. I liked learning more about the time period these men existed in. However, 3/4 of the way through the book I found the emulation of the sports stars in contrast to the Third Reich imminent atrocities to be hard to stomach. I also grew tired of hearing about EVERY single tournament Budge and Cramm every played in their life time. Enough.
constantlymaya's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
lavinia_speaks's review against another edition
fast-paced
2.0
Chaos -- jumps around in time and subject. There were flashes of a good account.
thegreatgabsby's review against another edition
4.0
It is odd when tennis, in a book that ostensibly focuses on the sport, is the least interesting thing in the book. This book is so chock full of wartime depictions and historical blurbs that most history buffs, not just tennis fans, would be entranced. I'm not sure about the objective veracity of some of the facts as reported by Fisher, and I'm pretty sure there's a fair amount of creative license being employed for maximum dramatic effect when it comes to the players' interactions, but the mixture of tennis legends, sportsmanship and World War II makes for an immensely captivating read.
clairesy's review against another edition
5.0
A smashing book! 🎾
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Antisemitism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
jennyhill's review against another edition
3.0
This is a fascinating story and it needed to be written, I just found that reading it was a lot of work. The author jumps around in time so often it was hard to follow the timeline. Halfway through the book I couldn’t even remember what match the story was centered on. I’m happy I read it because of what I learned, it just wasn’t a particularly enjoyable read for me.